Reasons to Celebrate LGBTQ History in May

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Heritage Month. LGBT immigrants and American-born individuals with roots in East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands have formed activist and social groups—such as Asian Lesbians of the East Coast (ALOEC), Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY), and the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association (SALGA)—that also fought for visibility within the wider LGBTQ community.

Explore NYC sites connected to the AAPI x LGBTQ experience on our website.

May is Lower East Side History Month, too! Head to our website and search our dynamic map by neighborhoods—just toggle down “Location” and select Lower East Side and East Village to explore extant sites connected to the LGBTQ community, from the Nuyorican Poets Café to the residence and studio of artist Martin Wong, to Rivington House, and many more.

On the occasion of May being Preservation Month, allow us to reintroduce ourselves, the preservationists behind the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project!

Left to right, we’re co-directors Ken Lustbader, Andrew S. Dolkart, and Jay Shockley; and Amanda Davis, project manager, second from left. The Project officially began in August 2015 and is based on over 30 years of research and advocacy by our co-founders and co-directors; while part of the Organization of Lesbian and Gay Architects + Designers (OLGAD), they helped create the nation’s first map for LGBT historic sites in 1994.

We hope that our emails, posts on social media, and our website inspire the LGBTQ community and youth, who are often not taught this history, in particular. Now more than ever it is important to raise public awareness about the community’s contributions to American history as well as the struggles it has faced in achieving acceptance and equality under the law. The Project encourages you to take a second look at the physical places you walk past every day and to appreciate a history that, until our initiative, has largely been invisible.

Support LGBTQ historic research and education

Our mission to document and honor LGBT place-based history in NYC continues, and it’s more essential than ever. We must put LGBT history—often invisible to the public at-large—on the map and document our cultural heritage before it’s too late. Give today.